Reusable bags and straws a good start to the broader phasing out of plastic, The Business Times, 19 August 2019

The Business Times carried an article on how the work of individuals and corporations can mobilise society to engage in collective action to mitigate the catastrophic effects of climate change. On the issue of reusable alternatives to plastic bags and straws, they interviewed several experts, including Yale-NUS Assistant Professors of Social Sciences (Environmental Studies) Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Marvin Montefrio. Asst Prof Schneider-Mayerson was quoted saying that the most important issue that the world faces today is climate change, not plastic, and highlighted that the issue of the investments in the fossil fuels that cause climate change is more urgent and permanent. Asst Prof Montefrio said that the issue now is that individual action is being framed as a silver bullet, and called for the need to engage environmental discourses as a community and creatively engage in collective action.